Personally, I find it interesting (even entertaining) to see that the press is choosing to use the word "ACCIDENT" to describe the financial cliff in Greece.

Because after all ...the word "ACCIDENT" ... sounds less harsh than CRASH, COLLAPSE or CARNAGE.

For heaven sakes ... we wouldn't want to alarm "Joe Average" or "Low-Information-Voters" that the markets are ripe for an ... "ACCIDENT." (Isn't that so sweet of the lame-street media?)
....

Can you sense my "ACCIDENTAL" sarcasm? According to Dictionary.com ... the word "ACCIDENT" means: "any event that happens unexpectedly, without a deliberate plan or cause."

Ok ... so the "EVENT" hasn't even happened YET ... and they're already calling it an "ACCIDENT?"

Isn't that like someone saying ... "I'm sorry" ... BEFORE they punch you in the face?

I thought that would be considered a "PREMEDITATED" action ... not an accident.

I believe there could be a PLAN here ... and the media is "setting the stage" ... **********ThunderHawk:Merkel vows 'constructive' role to help keep Britain in EU

Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Friday Germany would play a "constructive" role to help keep Britain in the EU and work with Prime Minister David Cameron to reform the 28-nation bloc.

Offering a warm and conciliatory tone to visiting Cameron -- who had received mixed welcomes elsewhere on a two-day European whistlestop tour -- she said Berlin was open to a compromise on London's demands.

"Where there's a will, there is a way," said Merkel, stressing that Germany would not rule out changing EU founding treaties, a tricky issue since it requires approval by all member states.

As both sides discuss a list of issues, "you cannot say that treaty change is a total impossibility," she said at a joint news conference.

Cameron, after his second-term election win this month, has vowed to push strongly for EU reforms and "a better deal for Britain" ahead of an in-out membership referendum he has promised by 2017.

Merkel said that "on the German side there is a clear hope -- and of course this will be decided by the British people -- that Britain will stay on as a member of the European Union".

An upbeat Cameron said that "today was an opportunity to really get down to business and to work through each issue", adding that "of course there is no magic quick solution" to the bundle of issues under discussion.

"The European Union has shown before that when one of its member states has a problem that needs sorting out, it can be flexible enough to do so, and I have every confidence that it will do so again," he said.

'Constructive, productive, friendly'

Cameron was in Berlin as part of a European charm offensive that earlier took him to The Hague, Paris and Warsaw, to sell his shopping list of proposed reforms.

These included stricter requirements for EU migrants in claiming British social welfare benefits, and for London to be able to opt out of an EU commitment to "ever closer union".
Merkel said Berlin and London saw eye-to-eye in many fields, such as on the need to cut EU red tape, and that their talks Friday had been "constructive, productive and friendly".
The leader of Europe's biggest economy said that "we want to play a constructive role as Britain embarks on its process towards a referendum and changes regarding its membership of the European Union".

On the issue of preventing EU migrants from abusing state welfare, she said change "may also be in Germany's interest", and that Berlin was now closely watching relevant European court cases.

The tone was positive despite the fact Cameron's stance conflicts with Franco-German hopes for a more integrated EU and eurozone.

Paris and Berlin seek common fiscal governance in the 19-member single currency union, of which Britain is not a member.

Next Monday Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will meet in Berlin to discuss strategy as the threat of a "Brexit" looms.

EU powers want Britain to stay in the EU, given its role as a global commercial power with diplomatic and military muscle -- and the incalculable symbolic damage its departure would do to the EU's global standing.

But impatience has risen in continental Europe about what some see as London's demands for special treatment and "a la carte" EU membership.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday that you cannot "join a football club and decide in the middle of the match we are now going to play rugby".
'Brexit a dead-end road'

In Poland on Friday Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz warned Cameron that his reforms on EU migrants "cannot discriminate against Poles", over 800,000 of whom live and work in Britain.
She said "it would be a shame" if Britain "were to disappear from the EU".
Britain has not yet outlined its precise list of reform proposals, to be discussed in detail at a Brussels summit next month.

No date has been set for the controversial referendum, but Britain's Europe Minister David Lidington has said the mood was "the sooner the better".

Analysts say it should be held well ahead of 2017 when Germany and France face elections and their governments will be in no mood for compromises.

Meanwhile a leading German business lobby on Friday made an impassioned plea for Britain to stay in the EU.

"Only a united Europe can remain successful in the world -- divided we will fade into insignificance," said Markus Kerber, chief executive of the Federation of German Industry.
"A Brexit would lead all of us up a dead-end road."

Backdoc: THESE TRADE DEALS EQUAL SECURITY FOR THE DOLLAR AS WELL AS PROVIDING THE LOWEST COST FOR THE HIGHEST QUALITY! EVERY COUNTRY HAS A STRENGTH TO EXPLOIT! DOC IMOThunderHawk:VIETNAM: High optimism marks signing of VN-EEU free trade deal

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (first right) and other leaders sign a Free Trade Area agreement between Viet Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union in Kazakhstan's Burabay District yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Duc Tam BURABAY (VNS) — Viet Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) yesterday signed a free trade agreement (FTA) that officials said would boost both individual and collective co-operation between the two sides.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Viet Nam would do its utmost to boost relations between the union and Viet Nam even as it continued negotiations for similar agreements with other partners.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the agreement, an important deal desired by both sides, would contribute greatly to the economic development of every country involved.

In May, 2014, in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, the Presidents of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan had signed an agreement to form the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which came into being on January 1, 2015.

The Viet Nam-EEU FTA is expected to foster a stable and favorable legal framework for economic development of signatories.

Economists have noted that the agreement stipulates open customs regulations. While tariff reductions and exemptions are mandated for listed commodities, each country can maintain customs protections for their most sensitive commodities.

It has been reported that nearly 100 per cent of Viet Nam's fisheries exports to the Eurasia Economic Community will enjoy a zero per cent tax rate. The same rate will also apply to 80 per cent of the country's garments, textiles, leather and footwear exports to the EEU.

For the EEU's high priority commodities like iron, steel, and certain types of industrial and agricultural products, Viet Nam has agreed to remove import taxes. It has also agreed to a gradual opening up of its market for certain categories of agricultural products.

The free trade deal covers more than 90 percent of all goods traded between the EEU and Viet Nam.

By signing the FTA, the EEU aims to increase its trade turnover with Viet Nam to at least $10 billion in five years from $4 billion in 2014.

Comprehensive deal

Prime Minister Dung said that the free trade agreement (FTA) between Viet Nam and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) was a modern, comprehensive deal that has the needed flexibility and balance of benefits.

Meeting with Viktor Khristenko, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasia Economic Commission, on the occasion of the FTA's signing, he also said that it was a breakthrough in economic-trade ties between the two sides.

Sharing the PM's assessment, Khristenko expressed his hope that Viet Nam would serve as a bridge linking the EU with ASEAN member states.

Both leaders said they believed the FTA would create a foundation for the EAEU to bolster trade and investment connections with Viet Nam and the Southeast Asian region in particular, and the Asia-Pacific region in general.

Viet Nam and the EAEU began negotiations on the bilateral FTA on March 28, 2013.

Dung also met yesterday with his counterparts from Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus.

In talks held with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Dung said he was pleased that the members of the EAEU were finally able to agree on the content of the Free Trade Agreement.

Medvedev responded that implementation of the agreement would boost economic and trade ties between all parties and enhance the strategic partnership between Russia and Viet Nam.

In his meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Dung said he was delighted at the recent growth in bilateral ties.

The two leaders agreed that the sound political and diplomatic relationship between the two countries has promoted economic, trade and investment ties.

The Vietnamese PM said implementing the FTA would also lay the foundation for expanding co-operation in areas of strength for both countries.

The two leaders agreed to study each other's respective markets better in order to maintain and strengthen co-operation in key sectors, especially oil and gas exploration and exploitation.

They pledged support for the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation and the Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Corporation to jointly explore and exploit oil and gas in both countries.

Referring to the East Sea issue, President Narzabayev said he supported the peaceful resolution of disputes towards maintaining peace, stability, security and safety of navigation and aviation in the region.

Potential not met

Also yesterday, Dung met with Belarus' Premier Andrei Kobyakov, who said the current two-way trade turnover of $170 million between the two countries did not match existing potential.

Kobyakov said Belarus hoped to participate in Viet Nam's socio-economic development projects and programs. He said Belarus was particularly interested in Vietnamese seafood, tobacco, coffee, tea, medicines and rice.

Noting that Viet Nam and Belarus enjoyed a long-standing friendship, Dung said: "We attach great importance to the development of all-round relations with Belarus, especially in economy, investment and tourism."

In another meeting with his Armenian counterpart Hovik Abrahamyan, Prime Minister Dung suggested that Viet Nam and Armenia establish an inter-governmental committee on economic-trade and scientific-technological co-operation.

Dung said Viet Nam always appreciated Armenia's support to its national liberation and development, adding that generations of Vietnamese people studying in Armenia have been contributing greatly to their homeland's national construction.

He continued to say that ministries and sectors of the two countries need to coordinate closer to make substantive improvements in their cooperation, especially when the FTA officially takes effect.

The two leaders agreed to focus efforts on building implementation mechanisms for the trade deal with a view to optimizing incentives offered by the deal to boost trade-economic ties, while continuing to improve legal frameworks for bilateral collaboration.

The Vietnamese PM specifically stressed the need to resume bilateral partnership in education-training which is a traditional cooperation area and urged the signing of an inter-governmental agreement on this field. — VNS